Rebel with a cause: An illegal library
By now you may have heard about Kat Atreides and her illegal library. (I think Dave will be especially impressed with her Dune alias.)
The teenager explains that she is keeping a library of 62 banned books, and lending them to her classmates. The titles include:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
His Dark Materials trilogy
Sabriel
The Canterbury Tales
Candide
The Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost
The Hunger Games
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Animal Farm
Shade's Children
The Evolution of Man
the Holy Qu'ran
Since her tale has gotten a bit more media attention, there have been plenty of questions about the veracity of her story. Many cannot believe that Twain's Connecticut Yankee or Milton's Paradise Lost would be banned at any place of learning. And since she is reluctant to talk to the media, it may be impossible to find out exactly what's happening at her school.
But as a middle-schooler who was shocked to find curse words whited out in her (public!) school library books, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that these books were actually targeted. And the ones I haven't read? I'm pretty interested in them now.
So congratulations to Kat Atreides, who is becoming an inspiration to far more readers than she may have imagined.
Comments
Wow, what a great kid! It's sad but true what books get challenged (the ALA's term for prior-to-banning). I am personally surprised that The Hunger Games in on the list, considering it's a recent release. Fabulous story, but DARK. Which is probably why it got challenged.
Posted by: Lauretta Nagel(ConstellationBooks) | May 27, 2009 5:58 PM
Animal Farm???
Having read the blog, it's almost as though the school administrators are, in fact, evil geniuses.
Maybe they could ban Algebra next.
Posted by: Eve | May 28, 2009 10:51 AM
Nancy, when my mother attended public high school in West Tennessee during the late 30s-early 40s, kids had to buy their own books. As the 4th of 6 kids, there was no question that my mother would simply use her older brothers' books, which, I can say with absolute certainty, were not new 10 years before when her oldest brother got them.
Her English class was reading one of Shakespeare's plays when she was called upon to read aloud a long, graphic passage about some beloved's intimate body parts. A girl in the back of the room called out, "Teacher, she's making that up! That's not in my book!"
Seems the school board had changed to the Bowderized version.
Posted by: Eve | May 28, 2009 11:05 AM
Stories like these make me appreciate my own middle and high schools so much more. Miss Atreides (props indeed on the name) is kind of doing something stupid because if she gets suspended or expelled over this, it'll really screw her over. On the other hand it's a noble, interesting story. The defense of banned books is so important - I just don't want someone to get in trouble for it.
Oh, a possible solution! How's about the school stops banning books? Sound good?
Posted by: Biblibio | May 30, 2009 11:46 PM